Planning the Final-Mile: The New Jersey Turnpike Corridor

Nowhere else in the United States is the demand for final-mile distribution facilities more evident than in the Tri-State region, particularly along the New Jersey Turnpike Corridor. Surrounded by more than 61 million people within 250 miles of its core, the industrial markets near the New Jersey Turnpike (the Turnpike) services the largest population concentration in the country. No other market in the country has the ability to reach as many people with same-day delivery as this one, giving e-commerce occupiers a major opportunity while at the same time a major challenge in finding the right inventory to service this population.

The market can reach so many consumers that many occupiers are now focusing more on the opportunity cost of not locating within the market, how much potential sales and opportunity will they lose by not occupying a final-mile facility, rather than the actual cost of renting a final-mile facility. Brokers report that for every four occupiers looking for final-mile space in the region, there is only one location available.

Key takeaways:

No market services a larger population base and therefore has more demand for final-mile facilities than the New Jersey Turnpike Corridor. The market can reach so many consumers that many occupiers are now focusing more on the opportunity cost of not locating within the market, rather than the actual cost of renting a final-mile facility. Brokers report that for every four occupiers looking for final-mile space, there is only one location available.

As developable land becomes scarcer and the number of occupiers in the market increases, developers have been looking to repurpose vacant and outdated office properties. These redevelopments are can be found along the New Jersey Turnpike and major interstates, taking advantage of the growing need of final-mile distribution.

New Jersey’s infrastructure spotlights many of the attributes that the state has to offer to its consumers and businesses for servicing the final-mile. With over 2,800 miles of interstates and highways that provide access throughout North America, the state also has immediate access to Newark Liberty International Airport, the Port of New York and New Jersey, George Washington Bridge, Bayonne Bridge, Goethals Bridge, Outerbridge Crossing, Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and nearly 1,000 miles of freight lines.

While creative, multi-story warehouse development has so far centered in the New York City area, the massive cost of redeveloping within the city could drive future multi-story projects along the New Jersey corridor, with the Meadowlands and Port markets as the most likely sites for this future development.